Heavy metals removal from oil sludge using ion exchange textiles

Abstract

In this research, ion exchange textiles were used for the first time for the removal of heavy metals from oil sludge. The target metals which were tested for their removal are cadmium, vanadium, nickel, copper, zinc, and iron. Ion exchange textiles were applied directly to oil sludge to assess the performance of ion exchange process in oil sludge without using a pre-treatment stage. Then, two different pre-treatments methods were developed to enhance ion exchange in oil sludge; first pretreatment method included pretreatment of oil sludge with organic solvent. The second pretreatment method used pretreatment with aqueous solution (solvent extraction) before applying ion exchange textiles. Results showed that all metals responded positively to pre-treatment with acetone. Using this technique, vanadium was removed from oil sludge below detection limit; other metals such as cadmium, zinc, nickel, iron, and copper was removed at 99%, 96%, 94%, 92%, and 89% respectively. The process developed by this work, provides a new economic technology for the treatment of oil sludge with regard to heavy metals removal